Ontario and Upper Canada Genealogy and History

Based on an idea ... Designed and Created by Michael Stephenson

Definitions of genealogy: Successive generations of kin. An account or statement of the descent of a person or family from an ancestor; pedigree; lineage; the study of pedigrees or family history; Study of one's ancestry, summary history or table of a person's ancestry. A history or account of one's ancestry, tracing back through generations of relatives. Study or account of descent from ancestors. Study of the origins and descent of families. A written history of the descent of a person or family from an ancestor.

'... when we say the word "Heimat", then a wave passes over our hearts; in all our loneliness we are not completely alone ... Heimat is Mother Earth. Heimat is landscape we have experienced ... our Heimat is the land which has become fruitful through the sweat of our ancestors ...' (Yi-Fu Tuan, 1977)

Echoes of the past (Essem)

...Sweet echoes from the far-off past methinks I hear to-night. They waft sweet memories back to me, They dim and cloud my sight. They come, they come, like silvery chimes And whisper words of the dear old times, They cause me joy, they cause me grief, But always bring me sweet relief. They come, they come, at evening hour When swift the moments fly, When joy is gathered round the hearth Or we bid loved ones "good-by." Amid the mystic maze of life These memories sweet, find little room; But when alone in silent thought, They shine like beacons in the gloom. And come, yes, come, like sweetest chimes, And whisper words of the dear old times, Of friends now gone, of joys long past. But memory, dear. will make them last.

The Deserted Farm

A dust worn traveler drew his rein At sunset's dreamy hour, With longing look o'er hill and plain Gives way to memory's power. Long years have passed since he last viewed His native heath and hill, And silence now with shadowy brood Makes nature weirdly still. There stands the homestead of his youth, And clustering round its door Come visions bright of love and truth From memory's endless store. He sees again his father's form Within the doorway stand, His thin locks, whitened by the storm, By passes breezes tanned; Mothers and sisters, brothers, there Resume their wanted place, And lost awhile in scenes so fair He sees each loving face. But wakened from his blissful dream The past returns no more, Alone he stands while sunset's gleam Cast shadows on the door.
Deserted now its windows blank Stare at the passer-by, And weeds and grasses stale and rank In wind swept chaos lie, No more from pastures green at night, To farmyard come the kine. Nor homeward come with hearts so light The boys of "Auld lang Syne." No neighing steed from yonder stall Impatient calls his mate; The shades of night around him fall, And all is desolate. He turns again - with lingering look Surveys the old domain, He hears the murmuring of the brook Which onward seeks the plain; His old Canadian hillside home, Amid the gathering gloom - The wanderer turns once more to roam And leaves it to its doom. The sighing winds a requiem sing Amid the cheerless calm, A saddened memory still to bring The old "deserted farm."